Rail Users Ireland Forum - View Single Post

on the move · 18-11-2010, 04:45

Went on the Slovakian leg of our campaign, and everyone who did go, got their own experience of travelling by rail in the country.

I stayed in nearby Vienna for the duration of the trip, and my first journey was to go by rail from Vienna to Bratislava, to see if tickets could be sourced for the game next day, and also to see how to get from there to Wolfsthal if needed the night after. With no joy on the ticket front on Day 1, a taxi driver took me the 10 kilometres back over the border to Wolfsthal, which would be needed if I came back from the game on the FAI boozecruise. The border between Slovakia and Austria symbolised a war for 50 odd years, but as we went back into Austria, the border posts are now unmanned and permanently open, due to Schengen. Apart from Kittsee, Wolfsthal is the Eastern outpost of the Austrian rail network, 2 kilometres from the Slovak border. The station is tiny and remote, yet it would have facilitated the 80 minute journey back to Vienna at 4am if required the night after.

On gameday, I left Vienna for Bratislava at Stadlau station, a new stop on the Vienna Metro network. It's a 14 Euro journey, and tickets had to be checked by both countries rail ticket inspectors. Upon arrival in Bratislava, a fair few Irish were milling around the station, until an FAI official moved us on and asked us to sign up to their free train. With no guarantee of game tickets, I set off on the earlier, more direct 13:15 train from Bratislava to Zilina. Having paid the standard 9 Euro fare for the journey, I went off to board, where I was to fall foul of a non-English-speaking ticket inspector 3 times. Apparantly because there was just one stop until Zilina instead of every station as normal, there was a different fare which I wasn't aware of at the time. At the third time of asking, the issue was sorted at another 5 Euro expense.

Upon arrival in Zilina, the hunt for game tickets resumed in the team hotel nearby where extra tickets were found by Delaney and a raffle held to distribute them. When my name came out, that issue was finally sorted. Just over an hour later, the boozecruise arrived, and those on it, were met by a display of the full armour of the local cops, though thankfully they didn't lash out with them. After the game, headed back to the station to see if it would be possible to find a spot on the FAI return train, but despite waiting around for an hour, our only company in the station was the police, who came prepared again for every non-existent eventuality. Instead those of us not on the FAI train wanting to get back to Bratislava and beyond, had to wait until the regular normal fare 02:40 train back to Bratislava which was a sleepy 3 hour journey. With the Wolfsthal option now irrelevant, I got the next train back from the main station to Vienna at 6am and arrived back 90 minutes later.

Our next away qualifier is in Macedonia in June, a trip that presents another set of rail challenges, however it's done.

18-11-2010, 04:45	#10
on the move Regular Poster Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 176	Went on the Slovakian leg of our campaign, and everyone who did go, got their own experience of travelling by rail in the country. I stayed in nearby Vienna for the duration of the trip, and my first journey was to go by rail from Vienna to Bratislava, to see if tickets could be sourced for the game next day, and also to see how to get from there to Wolfsthal if needed the night after. With no joy on the ticket front on Day 1, a taxi driver took me the 10 kilometres back over the border to Wolfsthal, which would be needed if I came back from the game on the FAI boozecruise. The border between Slovakia and Austria symbolised a war for 50 odd years, but as we went back into Austria, the border posts are now unmanned and permanently open, due to Schengen. Apart from Kittsee, Wolfsthal is the Eastern outpost of the Austrian rail network, 2 kilometres from the Slovak border. The station is tiny and remote, yet it would have facilitated the 80 minute journey back to Vienna at 4am if required the night after. On gameday, I left Vienna for Bratislava at Stadlau station, a new stop on the Vienna Metro network. It's a 14 Euro journey, and tickets had to be checked by both countries rail ticket inspectors. Upon arrival in Bratislava, a fair few Irish were milling around the station, until an FAI official moved us on and asked us to sign up to their free train. With no guarantee of game tickets, I set off on the earlier, more direct 13:15 train from Bratislava to Zilina. Having paid the standard 9 Euro fare for the journey, I went off to board, where I was to fall foul of a non-English-speaking ticket inspector 3 times. Apparantly because there was just one stop until Zilina instead of every station as normal, there was a different fare which I wasn't aware of at the time. At the third time of asking, the issue was sorted at another 5 Euro expense. Upon arrival in Zilina, the hunt for game tickets resumed in the team hotel nearby where extra tickets were found by Delaney and a raffle held to distribute them. When my name came out, that issue was finally sorted. Just over an hour later, the boozecruise arrived, and those on it, were met by a display of the full armour of the local cops, though thankfully they didn't lash out with them. After the game, headed back to the station to see if it would be possible to find a spot on the FAI return train, but despite waiting around for an hour, our only company in the station was the police, who came prepared again for every non-existent eventuality. Instead those of us not on the FAI train wanting to get back to Bratislava and beyond, had to wait until the regular normal fare 02:40 train back to Bratislava which was a sleepy 3 hour journey. With the Wolfsthal option now irrelevant, I got the next train back from the main station to Vienna at 6am and arrived back 90 minutes later. Our next away qualifier is in Macedonia in June, a trip that presents another set of rail challenges, however it's done. __________________ "We'd like to apologise for..."